When will some (not to be confused with all) white people stop pretending it's not about race?

"Why are white people so mean"?  This is the question the 8 year old grand daughter of a friend asked her  as they left the movie theater after seeing the movie The Help.  My friend was shocked at first, thinking maybe the movie was too mature for an 8 year old, but then she decided to turn it into one of those teachable moments.  Over ice cream at Maggie Moo's she explained that not all white people were mean, she reminded her of her teachers, friends,  neighbors, and other white people in her life who weren't mean to black folks.  She told her not to judge people by the color of their skin but how they treated her (the content of their character), and to apply the golden rule, treat others as you wish to be treated.  My friend said her granddaughter appeared to be satisfied by her answer, but she was sure the movie had an impact that would influence her future prospective, because even an 8 years old knows the difference between good and mean.

Just as my friend explained to her grand daughter that the actions of some aren't the actions of all, the nation needs to know that not all black people are criminals just because of the color of the skin. 

Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black.  George Zimmerman, the Sanford Police Department and the 0% African American jury, assumed he "was up to no good", not because he was "up to no good", but because he was a black male, was walking home from the store, with candy and a drink, talking on the phone, at 7:00 PM, wearing a hoodie.  It's too bad their grandmothers didn't teach them that not all black people are bad.

 Today's Must Reads

A defining moment on the front porch at Cracker Barrel

The People of All Colors

Must See You Tube

When the Verdict Hurts

Update ~"We need to pray just to make it today" MC Hammer

That's word,we pray(pray,pray)
We got to pray
Just to make it today
I said we pray(pray) ah,yeah,pray(pray)
We got to pra
Just to make it to pray

That's word,we pray

After reading Mack Lyon's look at the all-white jury in the Zimmerman trial courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel it's going to take more than praying for justice,  it's going to take some Divine intervention because as of right now, it doesn't smell or look good.

I hate to keep returning to the Paula Deen and The Help analogy... but based on my personal experience I  can't help (no pun) agreeing with Mack Lyons~This trial has all the elements of a monumental clusterf^*k, one with deep-setting effects that could last for years if not decades.

 I can't say I have white female friends because I really don't know if they are my friends or not because when it all comes down to it I'm black and they are white, and when I get out of my place so speak, they never fail to remind me of their superiority.

Friends, strike that, real friends treat each other as equals.  Real friends can agree to disagree and still remain friends.  With one or two exceptions, this has not been my experience.  This is what has me praying there are more Miss Skeeters  and Miss Celia's on the Zimmerman jury than Miss Hilly's.

 

Note it's not African Americans who are acting like Thugs because they can't have their way.

Paula Deen, "The Help", and the George Zimmerman jury

They say life imitates art and the first thing I thought about when I heard the Zimmerman jury is 100% women and 0% African American  was the characterization of white women in  The Help.

The story revolves around three different characters: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Skeeter Phelan as they document their lives on the different side of the racial barrier. Aibileen and Minny are black maids working for rich white families whilst Skeeter is the daughter of a rich family that employs "the help" which refers to the black maids. Minny is a black maid with a quick tongue and an inability to act like maids were expected to in the novel's depicted setting. This big mouth often gets her into trouble, and usually fired from her job. Racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws are experienced by all of the characters. The lives and morals of Southern socialites are also explored.

In light of the recent Paula Deen revelations and our rich southern heritage it's the racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws that concern me the most.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, juror E-6 -- a young, married white woman who warned her two adolescent children not to go out at night because of Martin's shooting -- reported that her husband owns guns. Juror B-37, a middle-aged white woman with two adult children who described the protests in Sanford as "rioting," reported that both she and her husband have concealed carry weapons permits, though she has let hers lapse, reports the paper.
Baez also cited the jurors' race -- five are white, and one is Hispanic, the Orlando Sentinel reports -- as a boost for the defense. The racial and ethnic makeup of potential jurors is relevant because prosecutors have alleged that Zimmerman profiled Martin in following the teen as Martin was walking back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.

I have to hand it to Zimmerman's attorney,  Mark O'Mara is one slick cookie.

After Thursday's hearing, Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara was asked what he would say to people concerned there were no black jurors.
"People can look at it and have this response — that there's no blacks on the jury, or no this or no that, or no men on the jury," he said. "Tell me that we did something wrong in the process and I'll agree with you."

I guess it depends on what your definition of doing something wrong IS. 

This case should not be about race, but the attorneys’ failure to pick a more diverse group of six people is certain to reignite the issue, especially if the 100 percent all-female/non-African-American jury finds Mr. Zimmerman not guilty.

The Southern Belles stand by their men folks-Edit

So, the Alabama and Mississippi Suckers have spoken.  I'm not surprised Rick "don't want to give bluh people white folks money" Santorum came in first.  Followed by Newt "lazy blacks on welfare" Gingrich.  Poor Mitt "damn Yankee" Romney came in third, with Ron "racist newsletters" Paul bringing up the rear.

Nor was I surprised to learn Rick and Newt wouldn't have won without the support of white, Republican, women.  One thing my rich southern heritage has taught me is white, Republican, women, stand by their man. 

True story #1;  I attempted to attend a Health Care Town Hall meeting, but couldn't get in, so I was forced to hang out in the parking lot with others who couldn't get in.  A white, visibly pregnant, young women carrying a sign calling The Affordable Health Care Act, socialism (code for welfare for black folks) saying she didn't want to be forced to take ObamaCare.  I told her no one would/could force her to change her present health insurance plan, it was for the 46 million people without health insurance.  She looked me dead in the eye and said, "I don't have insurance".   I kid you not.

True story #2;  While attending a pre-Thanksgiving Dinner/Meeting the talk turned to politics and voting.  One young, white woman claimed she talked to a "black man who said he wasn't voting for Obama".   yeah, right.  Another young, white women said, "I just vote for who my husband tells me to vote for."  I told her she was setting women's rights back 100 years.  She looked at me and said "That's all right", like she was hurting me or something. Sigh

 Best selling author, Kathryn Stockett, via Aibileene in her book The Help, provides insight into the mindset of some (not to be confused with all ) southern, white women.

The Help page 187-188I reckon I know pretty well what would happen in the white ladies found out we was writing about them.  Womens they ain't like men.  a woman ain't gone beat you with a stick.  Miss Hilly wouldn't pull no pistol on me.  Miss Leefolt wouldn't come burn my house down.

No, white womens like to keep they hands clean.   They got a shiny little set a tools they use, shar as witches' fingernails, tidy and laid out neat, like the picks on a dentist tray.  They gone take they time with em.

First thing a white lady  gone do is fire you.  You upset, but you figure you'll find another job, when things settle down, when the white lade get around to forgetting.  You got a month a rent saved.  People bring you squash casseroles.

But a week after you lost your job, you get this little yellow envelope stuck in your screen door.  Paper inside say   NOTICE OF EVICTION.  Ever landlord in Jackson be white and ever one got a white wife that's friends with somebody.  You start to panic some then.  You still ain't got not job prospects.  Everywhere you try, the door slams in your face.  And now you ain't got a place to live.

Then is starts to come a little faster.

I will never understand how any self, respecting woman could vote for a Republican, for any reason   I just can't.

Power of the privileged.  The privilege of the powerful.

Alabama in the house at the Academy Awards in Hollywood, California

Montgomery, Alabama native, and Auburn University grad , actress Octavia Spencer won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as an uppity maid in The Help,   a novel written by University of Alabama grad Kathryn Stockett .  Isn't it nice when Alabama is recognized in a positive light for something instead of football, bigotry and ignorance?

Montgomery's sister city  Birmingham was also represented at the Academy Awards, with the nomination of the short film Foot soldier:  The barber of Birmingham , putting the spotlight on the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement such as the late James Armstrong, who dedicated his life to fighting for civil rights.

We owe James Armstrong, Colonel Stone Johnson and the other foot soldiers a debt of gratitude that is priceless.

The struggle continues. Reverend Al Sharpton, along with the AFL-CIO and other grass roots organizations, will lead foot soldiers in a  march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama beginning March 4 in, ending  March 9, 2012 to protest the new voter laws, or as I call them, the keep black folks from voting laws.

Black voters are not engaged in voter fraud.  The right to vote is sacred to black voters.

All roads lead to Montgomery, Alabama ,the birthplace of Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer.

Always the Help, never an Equal Redux

What is wrong with this picture?

Here we go again.  Black folks from President Obama ,to Huntsville City Councilman Richard Showers,  to RedEye still find ourselves being put in our place when we get uppity in post racial America.  Some people will look at the above picture and say nothing is wrong with Gov. Jan Brewer (r. AZ) actions. I submit if an African American elected official did the same to pResident Bush they would have been shot on site, or whisked off to Gitmor for some Water Boarding, or worse. Snark

Sunday's Must Read h/t my friend JB, who said it was a teachable moment for this honkie. 

A Teachable Racial Moment:  On Fingers Pointed in Black Faces

Excerpt:
Usually, my blog posts deal with African American community or political issues, and I talk as one cultural insider to another cultural insider.However, I’ve realized that sometimes, well-meaning, really nice White people (of which there are many, by the way) want Black folks to talk to them in non-angry, non-confrontational, and patient ways about Black cultural issues they don’t understand.

So I wondered if it might be useful for me to write blog posts that break racial things down for good White folks who mean no harm—and who either have Black friends or are in the midst of acquiring friendships with Black people– and are just trying to navigate these racial waters that ironically (and to me, bewilderingly) have become far more treacherous since the election of our first Black president.

 It was the unofficial law of “reckless eyeballing” created by White southerners, and many a southern Black man swung at the end of a rope for committing that supposed crime. The case of Emmitt Till was a variation of “reckless eyeballing,” because he whistled at a White woman and ended up murdered.

The Help, chapter 7, page 95

"I feel that bitter seed growing inside me, the one planted after Treelore died I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty ain't a color, disease ain't Negro side of town. I want to stop that moment from coming--and it come in every white child's life-when they start to think that colored folks ain't as good as whites."

 Knowledge is Power.

Always The Help, never an Equal

One of the most enlightening things I accomplished during my vacation was reading The Help, by University of Alabama alum Kathryn Stockett.

The Help" tells the story of black maids Aibileen and Minny, who work with a white woman named Skeeter on a book about their experiences as domestic help. The black characters fear retribution for working with the white woman on such a book, but Aibileen decides to help in part because black maids are forced to use outside restrooms.

The movie doesn't do the book justice. IMHO the screen adaptation was more about making white people feel good about themselves than a factual, historical, dramatization. Although the book was set during the 60's, black folks from President Obama to RedEye still find ourselves being put in our place when we get too uppity in "post racial" America.

Every campaign enlists its own meta-language. As Randall Kennedy reminds us in his provocative and richly insightful new book, “The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency,” the Obama forces disseminated several messages intended to soothe the racially freighted fears of the white electorate.

On one channel, they reassured voters that he was not an alien, but a normal American patriot. They also made clear that he was a “safe,” conciliatory black man who would never raise his voice in anger or make common cause with people, living or dead, who used race as a platform for grievance. On yet another wavelength, the candidate proffered his bona fides as a black man to ?African-Americans who were initially wary of his unusual upbringing, his white family ties and his predominantly white political support.

In chapter 7 page 95 of The Help, Abileene, the black maid, potty trains Mae Mobley, the white child she cares, for by taking her to the only bathroom she can use, a bathroom built especially for her kind outside. Unfortunately Mae Mobley doesn't know the difference and attempts to use the colored bath room. I say it's unfortunate because Mea Mobley gets a spanking and told she was not raised to use the colored bathroom because it was dirty and she would catch diseases. These are Abileenes thoughts after the fact;

"I feel that bitter seed growing inside me, the one planted after Treelore died I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty ain't a color, disease ain't Negro side of town. I want to stop that moment from coming--and it come in every white child's life-when they start to think that colored folks ain't as good as whites."

I know there are some who want to believe this kind of thinking is in the past, but it's alive and well in 2011. No matter how smart we are, how educated we are, how rich we are, we are still black folks who "ain't as good as whites".

Part of the problem is that many blacks don’t expect much of themselves, either. That’s why they elected idiots like Waters and Carson to represent them. The implicit message from such buffoonish leaders is: “You’re helpless and need an angry brawler like me to go to Washington and fight the system for you.”

Ironically the real life Abileen Cooper filed suit against the author of The Help claiming Stockett used her name and likeness without permission and with embarrassing results.

The six-page lawsuit claims, among other things, that Stockett's refusal to publicly admit that she based the character on Cooper's likeness "is so outrageous in character, and so extreme as to go beyond all bounds of human decency, and is utterly intolerable in a civilized community."

It quotes passages from the book, including one in which Aibileen's character describes a cockroach: "He black. Blacker than me."

The lawsuit said Cooper found it upsetting and highly offensive to be portrayed as someone "who uses this kind of language and compares her skin color to a cockroach."

The author in her own words;

That was a normal part of life, the rules between blacks and whites. As a little girl, seeing black people in the colored part of town, even if they were dressed up or doing fine, I remember pitying them. I am so embarrassed to admit that now

Another relevant part of the book deals with the justice system, or should I say injustice system and how it was used to discredit and punish The Help. One of my friends took her six year old grand daughter to see the movie because she wanted her to see what life was for her ancestors. In one scene a white police officer strike one of the maids in the back of the head with his Billy Club while she is handcuffed laying face down on the hood of the police car. She said her grand daughter said she was glad there were no more mean white people around today. She said she didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't exactly true.

I long for the day when all of God's children will be be treated as equals and not treated like The Help.
All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper." If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights. And so just as I said, we aren't going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around. We aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.

We Shall Overcome Someday.